Question: This is as good a place to ask as any. In various US TV shows (including this one, and this episode), someone says "I could care less", when they always seem to mean "I couldn't care less", ie. they have no interest in what's going on. Surely if they COULD care less that means they actually care a reasonable amount? Is there any logic to this, or is it just a really annoying innate lack of sense?
Jon Sandys
9th Dec 2003
The West Wing (1999)
Answer: It's an endlessly annoying dropped negative, and it's been a common colloquialism for far too long. I believe it comes from an original (and now omitted and merely implied) "As if" preceding the statement. "As if I could care less." (Meaning "As if it were possible that I could care even less than I do.") But there's really no way to know.
8th Dec 2003
The West Wing (1999)
Character mistake: During the face-off about religion/politics, they get into a shouting match about commandments, both groups being equally convinced that "honour your father and mother" is the 1st or 3rd commandment, respectively. In actual fact it's the 4th or 5th, depending on which version (Catholic or Protestant) of the 10 commandments you go by. See http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm.
Trivia: In the romantic scene between Elizabeth and Will where she shows him the medallion, she pulls it from around her neck. The necklace was attached to the back of her neck with sellotape to make it easily removable, but the first few times she pulled it off the tape was too tightly attached and pulled bits of hair off too. Commentary, DVD.
30th Nov 2003
Friends (1994)
The One With The Princess Leia Fantasy - S3-E1
Continuity mistake: When Joey says "we'll call that plan B, all right?", Monica has her chin in her hand. When it cuts to a different angle, she's got both arms on the table. Rachel also goes from having both hands clasped under her chin to having one arm resting on the table and one reaching for coffee. (00:05:10)
20th Nov 2003
Friends (1994)
The One With The Secret Closet - S8-E14
Question: When the closet is finally opened, revealing how messy it is inside, Chandler says to Monica "I married Fred Sanford". Who?
Chosen answer: Fred Sanford was one of two main characters of "Sanford & Son", a TV show from back in the 70s. He was a junk dealer. Those who are British might be interested to know that it was the American version of 'Steptoe and Son'.
20th Nov 2003
Family Guy (1999)
Question: In the courtroom, after everyone goes "Oh no.", what looks like a teapot bursts through the wall going "Oh yeah.". I'm assuming it's a US advert, but I've got no idea for what - can someone let me know?
Chosen answer: It's the Kool Aid mascot (Kool Aid being a fruit flavoured powdered drink mix - FILLED with sugar). It has been bursting walls (while screaming "Oh, yeah!") for years, bringing what's needed to quench children's thirst.
20th Nov 2003
Batman (1989)
18th Nov 2003
Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
Continuity mistake: When the cop's beeping his horn outside the car as the spiders jump towards him, he's glaring at the house until the shot of the spider landing on his roof, when he's staring fixedly ahead (not at a spider - there aren't any in front of him). Next shot he's glaring at the house again. (00:53:30)
18th Nov 2003
Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
Audio problem: When the mayor's leaving the mall as people flood in, the first van to arrive is beeping its horn. The horn sounds as if it's passing him (via the doppler effect), but it's coming towards him - no way should it sound like that. (01:03:05)
18th Nov 2003
Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
Continuity mistake: Something weird happens as the sheriff rolls under the closing gate. She's holding a shotgun before she drops to the floor, rolls under with empty hands (seen from both sides), and as she stands up she's got it back. What's weird is that her dropping and rolling is one continuous shot, so she must have deliberately thrown the gun offscreen as she fell to help her fit through the narrow gap. She doesn't throw it through the gap - we'd be able to see it on the other side. (01:02:40)
18th Nov 2003
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Continuity mistake: As soon as George Clooney tears up his speech, we see it scattered on the podium. As he leaves the podium, we see his torn up speech placed neatly to one side, but the pieces are quarter-sized, despite only tearing them once. He walks down the aisle, then in the next shot from the podium watching him walk away, the papers are scattered again. (01:12:45)
18th Nov 2003
The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
Trivia: During their walk, when Jimmy and Oz stop by a flower stall, the three girls who run between them shouting "I'm gonna kill you." are Bruce Willis' 3 daughters. (00:12:45)
18th Nov 2003
The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
Revealing mistake: When Jill and Cynthia meet by the water towards the end, Jill produces her gun and is told to throw it in. As she's holding it you can see the base of the grip and there's no magazine in it - hardly the most effective weapon... (01:26:45)
18th Nov 2003
The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
Continuity mistake: After Cynthia tells Jill she loves Oz in the bank, we see a long shot of the boat and Jimmy has his hand to his ear, looking like he's holding a phone. We then hear a phone ring, cut to a closeup of Jimmy with his hands by his side, and he lifts the phone to speak. (01:30:15)
16th Nov 2003
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Revealing mistake: When the swordmaker writes "Bill" on the window, take a close look. The window has been wiped before (as happens at the end of the scene) and "re-steamed" - you can see the outlines of the wiping from earlier takes, with a clear contrast between that pane and the others. (00:52:45)
15th Nov 2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Continuity mistake: When Frodo and Sam are in the field with the scarecrow, in the close up shot they're a lot closer together than in the wider shot. Nothing to do with perspective - check out the amount of green corn in front of Frodo in the two shots. The scarecrow also changes place and it's sometimes next to some corn and sometimes not. (00:42:40)
13th Nov 2003
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Trivia: A lot of people bemoan loose endings in this, but in part that's probably down to this movie, more than any other on this site (hence barely qualifying this as trivia), attracting utterly inane submissions, listed here for the amusement of people who've actually paid attention to the other two films. Firstly, at no point in either of the movies does anyone say that they've "destroyed the sun", which would have resulted in an error when they fly above the clouds and see it, as at least three people have submitted. They scorched the sky (ie. caused heavy cloud cover). How are you supposed to destroy the sun? Nor did anyone say that Zion was destroyed at the end of Reloaded - the battle which only Bane survived was the attempted EMP-based ambush of the machines within the tunnel system. And finally, Niobe didn't die in Reloaded - don't know where anyone got that idea from. Keep an eye on this entry for more daft submissions - I do wish people would pay attention sometimes...
13th Nov 2003
Alias (2001)
Continuity mistake: When Roger Moore is showing Sloane the bank accounts, he says "5 deposits in excess of $45 million...", but the shot just before that shows deposits of (in thousands), $9,362, $7,215, $9,010, $8,300, and $9,250. That makes $43,137,000, which isn't in excess of $45 million. (00:20:10)
13th Nov 2003
Friends (1994)
The One With The Dollhouse - S3-E20
Continuity mistake: When Chandler's in Rachel's office, she tells him the lingerie isn't kept there. He says, "Yes I realise that", and starts reaching for the catalogue she's about to give him. Camera cuts, and he's now standing with his hands in his pockets, reaching out again when she gives him the catalogue. (00:02:40)
10th Nov 2003
X-Men 2 (2003)
Deliberate mistake: Almost trivia, but not quite. When Mystique's looking through the guard files to find a suitable candidate, lots of photos flash up very quickly before she finds the guy she uses. Of note is that Bryan Singer pops up in guard uniform (with his own name), and so does someone called "Donner, L". This is most likely referring to Lauren Shuler Donner, one of the producers, and sex is specified as "F", but the photo is of a stubble-coated man. (00:23:10)
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Chosen answer: A really annoying innate lack of sense. My friends and family say the same thing all the time, and I'm endlessly trying to correct them. I think people just don't know any better and (ironically) couldn't care less that they're speaking incorrectly.